Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Solar Power

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of energy generated from solar power each day in the UK.

Lord Callanan: On average in 2019, solar PV generated 35 GWh of electricity per day in the UK. This is calculated as the total amount of electricity generated by solar PV in 2019 divided by the number of days. The 2019 generation figure is published by BEIS in DUKES 6.4 (copy attached). In addition, on average in 2019, 0.148 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent of solar thermal energy was produced per day in the UK. The 2019 figures is published by BEIS in DUKES 6.1 (copy attached). Full statistics for 2020 are not yet available. Provisional statistics will be published on March 25th on the GOV.UK website.DUKES 6.1 - 6.3 (xls, 626.5KB)DUKES 6.4 (xls, 116.5KB)

Wind Power

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the amount of energy generated from wind power each day in the UK.

Lord Callanan: On average in 2019, wind generated 176 GWh of electricity per day in the UK. This is calculated as the total amount of electricity generated by onshore and offshore wind in 2019 divided by the number of days. The 2019 generation figure is published by BEIS in DUKES 6.4 (copy attached).Full statistics for 2020 are not yet available. Provisional statistics will be published on March 25th on the GOV.UK website.DUKES 6.4 (xls, 116.5KB)

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of glass vials for COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

Lord Callanan: The UK has a sufficient number of glass vials available, due to orders already placed.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many vials of COVID-19 vaccine are currently held in the UK.

Lord Callanan: We are not able to disclose details regarding the number of vials held in the UK due to its commercially sensitive nature. It should be noted that the UK has a sufficient number of glass vials available, due to orders already placed.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether COVID-19 vaccines must be stored in glass vials; if so, why; and if not, what plans they have to use plastic containers to address any shortage of glass vials.

Lord Callanan: Vaccines are currently approved for storage in glass vials, rather than plastic. This is due to glass generally providing better shelf life and being more resistant to sterilisation processes. Plastics can be made sterile, but often do not have as good barrier properties reducing shelf life. It should be noted that the UK has a sufficient number of glass vials available, due to orders already placed.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have entered into any contracts with (1) Oxford Biomedica, (2) Cobra, and (3) Halix, in relation to the production of COVID-19 vaccines; and, if so, what plans they have to make the terms of these contracts available to the public.

Lord Callanan: The Government has not entered into a contract with any of the named companies.

Bank Services: Payments

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk to consumers of untransparent terms and conditions for online payments, and in particular, the risk of signing up to continuous payments in error; and what steps they plan to take to address any such risk.

Lord Callanan: Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, all terms of written contracts must be fair and transparent. If terms in a consumer contract are assessed by a court as unfair, they will not be binding on the consumer, even if the consumer has “accepted” them. The Government is working closely with Citizens Advice and the Consumer Protection Partnership, which brings together key partners within the consumer protection framework, to examine ways to make it easier for consumers to cancel unwanted subscriptions and avoid them facing unreasonable charges.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Screening

Lord Strasburger: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their guidance Testing for coronavirus: privacy information - quick read, last updated on 11 November, which states that users’ data collected during testing for COVID-19 may be shared “for research purposes”, (1) what are the research purposes, (2) who will the data be shared with, (3) how long will the data be kept, and (4) what verification will be carried out to ensure that the shared data is only used for the stated purpose and is destroyed on time.

Lord Bethell: Ensuring the privacy of users and security of their personal data is a priority for the National Health Service and the Government. We follow cyber security best practice to help protect this data and comply with the law around the use of data, including the Data Protection Act 2018. All data is handled according to the highest ethical and security standards and is used only for NHS care, management, evaluation and research into COVID-19, to which individuals may be invited to take part in a research project. Personal information can only be seen by Public Health England staff working on NHS Test and Trace, the contact tracers working for NHS Professionals and contact tracers, who can only see the information of the named contacts they have been instructed to call.

Health Services: Hospitals

Baroness Stroud: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any national triage system has been put in place in hospitals for the upcoming winter period; if so, (1) what are the criteria of that system, (2) what guidance they have circulated to hospitals about that system, and (3) whether any such guidance states that all patients should be triaged based on care need rather than age.

Lord Bethell: The National Health Service has repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it. Clinicians are focused on assessing the individual needs of patients and providing the care that will benefit them best.When issuing guidance on restoration of non-COVID-19 health services, NHS England instructed providers to make full use of available capacity whilst protecting the most vulnerable. Furthermore, throughout the pandemic, public health measures have protected our most vulnerable patients. For example, we have ensured care home residents and staff are protected, including testing all residents and staff, ring-fencing £1.1 billion for infection control and making a further £4.6 billion available to councils to address pressures caused by the pandemic.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Baroness Fall: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the average waiting time between referral to, and treatment by, child and adolescent mental health services since 23 March 2020; and what was the average such time from 23 March 2019 to 22 March 2020.

Lord Bethell: The information requested is not held. In order to measure waiting times to mental health services, or to determine if an assessment took place after the patient entered treatment, an access and waiting times standard for the service must be defined for analysis purposes. A national access and waiting times standard has not yet been defined for child and adolescent mental health services.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Baroness Fall: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of referrals of children with mental health issues referred for treatment from (1) GPs, and (2) other health professionals, have been treated through child and adolescent mental health services since 23 March 2020; and what was the percentage of such referrals from 23 March 2019 to 22 March 2020.

Lord Bethell: This information is not held in the required format. We remain committed to delivering the core proposals of the children and young people’s mental health Green Paper, including the introduction of senior leads in mental health and mental health support teams in schools and colleges, as well as the piloting of a four-week waiting time for specialist NHS services. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to access support through NHS-funded services or school and college-based mental health support teams by 2023-24.

Secure Accommodation

Lord Patel of Bradford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people were detained in secure facilities in England in 2019; and for the breakdown of the total by (1) gender, (2) age, and (3) ethnicity.

Lord Bethell: The information is not available in the format requested.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

Baroness Doocey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of (1) pubs, (2) cafes, and (3) restaurants, whichfail to record customer contact details for NHS Test and Trace.

Lord Bethell: Designated venues, including hospitality businesses, must collect contact details of staff, customers and visitors and provide a National Health Service QR code for individuals to check in to the venue using the COVID-19 app. Local health protection teams can ask the venue for these records where it is necessary, for example if the premises has been identified as the location of a potential outbreak. Venues must share the requested information as soon as possible to help identify people who may have been in contact with the virus and help minimise the onward spread. NHS Test and Trace does not collect this data unless it is necessary for contact tracing following an identified outbreak.In a recent poll 76% of visitors to restaurants, cafes and pubs stated they were asked to provide their details or scan an NHS QR code on entry. We continue to engage with business and enforcement officials to work towards 100% compliance.

NHS: Buildings

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government what stepsthey are taking to ensure that NHS estates can reduce the viral load of COVID-19 in the ambient air; and what plans they have to undertakewide-scale deployment of professional high-efficiency particulate air purifiers to reduce the risk of nosocomial infection.

Lord Bethell: The current National Health Service infection prevention control principles are applicable to all healthcare staff in all healthcare settings. These set out safe systems of working including administrative, environmental and engineering controls and interventions to reduce the risk of transmission of infection. This includes cleaning and decontamination of the environment and shared equipment, social/physical distancing, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment and ventilation.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise the provision ofCOVID-19 vaccines to school staff and other keyworkers to ensure that essentialpublic services can be safe working environments.

Lord Bethell: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.  For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors. If school staff and other key workers are captured in phase one due to their age, or clinical risk factors, they will be prioritised.Prioritisation decisions for the next phase of delivery are subject to the surveillance and monitoring data and information from phase one, as well as further input from independent scientific experts, such as the JCVI. Phase two of the rollout may include targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services, such as school staff.

Injuries

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the paper by Julian Guest et al Cohort study evaluating the burden of wounds to the UK’s NHS in 2017/18: update from 2012/13,published in the British Medical Journal on 22 December 2020, what steps they are taking in response to the finding that (1)the percentage of adults with a wound who were less than 65 years of age increased from 35 per cent in 2012/2013 to 67 per cent in 2017/2018, and (2) the percentage increase in people with diabetes in the same period.

Lord Bethell: An increase in wounds in younger patients is likely to be related to an increase in the prevalence of co-morbidities in a younger population, as chronic wounds are usually due to co-morbidities that affect wound healing, such as patients with diabetes, arterial disease and venous disease.NHS England and NHS Improvement fund the National Wound Care Strategy Programme which is developing a number of quality improvement initiatives to prevent wounds and improve wound healing. NHS England and NHS Improvement also continue to prioritise diabetes prevention, including through The NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to fund a doubling of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme over the next five years, including a new digital option to widen patient choice and target inequality. Preventing diabetes and other co-morbidities is key to reducing the prevalence of wounds in adults.

Gambling

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the cost of gambling addiction to the NHS in each of the last five years; and (2) the likely cost in each of the next five years.

Lord Bethell: The exact figures on the cost to the National Health Service of gambling addiction is not collected centrally. However, the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 has committed to spending up to £15 million on problem gambling by 2023/24.

Exercise: Coronavirus

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue guidance which sets out a specific radius in which exercise is permitted to be undertaken outside the home while restrictions are in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Bethell: There is no specific distance applicable for exercising but time outside of the home should be minimised. When spending time outside the home we advise to stay local and avoid travelling outside of the village, town or the part of a city where a person lives. The Government has these restrictions constantly under review.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have of the impact on the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination of postponing a second dose of the vaccination beyond 21 days from the firstcompared togiving such a dosewithin 21 days.

Lord Bethell: A phase three clinical trial study on COVID-19 vaccine efficacy demonstrated a two-dose vaccine efficacy of 95% with a second dose delivered between 19 and 42 days. A copy of the study Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine is attached.Using data available from this study, Public Health England estimated that short term vaccine efficacy from the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be approximately 89%. This is the efficacy calculated 15 to 21 days after the first dose.The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s view is that protective immunity from the first dose likely lasts for a duration of 12 weeks.Safety and Efficacy of the Covid-19 Vaccine (pdf, 758.5KB)

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what, under the current regulations, is the maximum distance that a person in England may travel (1) to shop and (2) to exercise.

Lord Bethell: There is no specific distance applicable to all circumstances. However, the advice is that to meet the legal requirement not to leave home to travel unless for work or other legally permitted reasons and to reduce the risk of transmission, individuals should stay local and avoid travelling outside of the village, town or the part of a city where they live and look to reduce the number of journeys they make overall.

Maternity Services: Coronavirus

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the (1) number, and (2) proportion, of women accessing NHS maternity care in England who hadCOVID-19 at the time they receive care, (a) at the most recent point for which information is available, and (b) overall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Bethell: This information is not held centrally.

Gender Recognition: Children

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which Care Quality Commission inspections of theTavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trustin each of the lastfive years investigated the ability of young people treated by the Gender Identity Development Service (1) to have sufficient understanding, and (2)to be able to assess, the potential long-term consequences ofreceivingpuberty-blocking treatment.

Lord Bethell: In 2016, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reviewed capacity and consent for young people during its inspection across the variety services provided by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. To sufficiently assess capacity and consent for puberty-blocking treatment, a specific assessment by the CQC was required to identify practices at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, University College London Hospitals, and Leeds General Infirmary. This took place between September and November 2020 in response to concerns identified by the CQC and the subsequent reports will be published in due course. From early 2019, the CQC has been monitoring the Trust’s action plan which includes capacity and consent for puberty-blocking treatment and has requested specific information from the trust on this topic.

Gender Recognition: Health Services

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to instruct the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to publishdata on the number, or proportion, of young people referred to the Gender Identity Development Servicesince2011 who had a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to instruct the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to publish data on the number of young people, if any, who had been assessed to be suitable for treatment using puberty-blocking drugs but who were not prescribed such treatment because they were not considered Gillick competent.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to instruct the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to publish data showing the proportion of those who were treated with puberty-blocking drugswho remained within the Gender Identity Development Service and later receivedcross-sex hormones.

Lord Bethell: NHS England is the responsible commissioner for the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS). In response to the recent High Court ruling regarding treatment pathways at the GIDS, NHS England is considering the future data reporting requirements for the service. These considerations will also be informed by the planned publication of a report by the Care Quality Commission following its inspection of the GIDS in November 2020.

Gender Recognition: Children

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to instructthe Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to publish research showing the age distribution of those children treated with puberty-blocking drugssince 2011.

Lord Bethell: The pre-print of the outcome of a research study titled Short-term Outcomes of Pubertal Suppression in Selected Cohort of 12-15 Year Old Young People with Persistent Gender Dysphoria in the UK was published in December 2020. The final peer-reviewed version of the study is planned for publication during 2021.

NHS: Negligence

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Bethell on 25 February 2020 (HL793) and 17 December 2020 (HL11131) andthepayment of damages in the majority of litigated clinical negligence claims, what assessment they have made of (1) the value for money, and (2) the quality, of thelegal representation used by the NHS in such claims.

Lord Bethell: NHS Resolution negotiates large-scale contracts for legal services, using its position as a bulk purchaser to obtain the best expertise, including some of the recognised leaders in their field. The contracts include fixed and capped fee arrangements and competitive hourly rates, ensuring value for money. NHS Resolution manages their legal panel through service level agreements, which ensures a high quality of service is provided to the National Health Service. Most claims are settled without court proceedings or going to trial. Less than 1% of claims proceed to trial and in the majority of those claims, 75.3%, NHS Resolution successfully achieves a judgement in favour of the NHS.

Department for Education

Turing Scheme: EU Nationals

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that those people from EU member states due to participate in the Eramus+ scheme in the UK have access to the Turing scheme.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU, the UK will continue to participate fully in the 2014–20 Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes. This means that the projects successfully bid for during the current programmes will continue to receive funding for the full duration of the project, including those where it runs beyond 2020 and the end of the transition period.The government has decided that it is not in the UK's interests to seek continuing participation in the next Erasmus+ programme. Instead, we are introducing a new international educational exchange scheme which has a genuinely global reach. Under the Turing scheme, UK universities, colleges, and schools will be able to bid for funding to enable their students to travel abroad for study and work placements – for any of their students, regardless of nationality.

Turing Scheme

Lord Sikka: To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional resourcesthey plan to makeavailable to (1) schools, (2) colleges, and (3) universities, to administer the Turing scheme.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Turing scheme will be backed by at least £100 million of public money, providing funding for around 35,000 students in universities, colleges, and schools to go on placements and exchanges overseas, starting in September 2021. We will be making further information available very shortly to enable providers to prepare to bid for funding when applications open in the coming weeks. Successful applicants will receive funding for administering the scheme and students taking part will receive grants to help them with the costs of their international experience.We are pleased that the new scheme will be administered by the same consortium of the British Council and Ecorys which has been delivering Erasmus+ in the UK for a number of years, so will be able to draw on those organisations’ experience of working with education providers across the UK and ensure helpful continuity.Further details of the scheme will be published shortly.

Erasmus+ Programme

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK no longer participating in Erasmus+ on the number of international students studying at UK universities.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Throughout our negotiations with the EU, the government carefully considered the potential impacts of launching a new scheme compared to continuing to participate in the Erasmus+ scheme under the terms on offer. The design of the Turing scheme has been driven by our ambition for a truly global, UK-wide scheme, and we are confident that international students will continue to want to study in the UK’s world-leading educational institutions.The UK is a world-leading destination for study and research, with 4 universities in the world’s top 10 and 18 in the top 100 – more than the whole of the EU in total. The UK is currently second only to the USA as a destination for international students in higher education, with approximately 486,000 overseas students.It is clear that we have considerable appeal as a destination and partner in international mobilities and exchange schemes. We will harness this advantage to deliver an international education exchange programme which has a genuinely global reach, establishing new relationships with academic institutions not just across Europe but also the rest of the world.More broadly, our updated International Education Strategy will respond to the challenges of COVID-19. It will set out how the government will support the whole of the UK’s education sector in the recovery of its international activity, pursuing our ambition to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per annum and to increase the number of international higher education students hosted in the UK to 600,000 per annum, both by 2030.

Ministry of Justice

Remote Hearings

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they collect data on people's experience of remote court hearings; and, if not, what plans they have to do so.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar: HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) are evaluating the use of remote hearings during the Covid-19 outbreak. This will include a large-scale survey of over 5000 public users, capturing their experiences of and attitudes to remote hearings. Survey findings will be supplemented by in-depth interviews with users on their experiences. HMCTS will publish the findings of the evaluation once it is complete and has been quality assured. In addition, as part of HMCTS’s ongoing perceptions work, all users can complete a short feedback survey on how they found their remote hearing. HMCTS are also continuing to develop the Video Hearings Service as part of Reform. The Video Hearings Service is being tested in a small number of courts, and HMCTS are conducting research with users on their experiences to inform development of the service.

Courts: Domestic Abuse

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards introducing Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot schemes.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar: Planning for the Integrated Domestic Abuse Court pilot is under way with the Steering Group and Design Groups established and developing detailed proposals. We intend to launch the pilots later this year, despite the challenges brought by Covid-19 and the significant ongoing work to ensure the family courts continue to function throughout the pandemic.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Pakistan: Ethnic Groups

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent killings of Hazaras in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan; and what discussions they have had with the government of Pakistan about these deaths.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK condemns the 3 January attack claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province targeting and killing 11 Hazara Shia miners in Balochistan. I issued a tweet to condemn the attack and sending my condolences to families grieving their loved ones. The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are committed to working together to combat the terrorist threat and the extremism that sustains it, in a human rights compliant manner. We remain deeply concerned by reports of discrimination and violence against religious minorities in Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief with the Government of Pakistan. Most recently, I raised concerns on 16 November with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister and on 7 December with Pakistan's Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Interior, Shahzad Akbar.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. The UK has committed up to £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which is the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. This makes the UK one of the COVAX AMC's largest bilateral donors. Our commitment will support access to COVID-19 vaccines for up to 92 developing countries through contributing to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021, and vaccinations for up to 500 million people.

Diplomatic Service: British Nationals Abroad

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what rights to consular assistance British citizens have if they are falsely accused or imprisonedabroad.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Our consular staff endeavour to give appropriate and tailored support to British nationals overseas and their families in the UK, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. What we can and cannot do is set out in our guide on gov.uk. We help around 30,000 British nationals abroad every year. Cases range from supporting those who have lost their passports, been victims of crimes or had accidents while in another country, through to complicated, long-running consular cases such as people detained overseas. The UK is a party to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which is a multilateral agreement setting out how States will cooperate in the support of their nationals in distress overseas including for example granting access to detained nationals The Government's ability to provide consular assistance remains at all times dependent on other states respecting the VCCR and must be done in accordance with the laws of that country.

Central African Republic: Politics and Government

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports that violence prevented people from voting in elections in the Central African Republic, what assessment they have made of the current (1) political, and (2) security, situation in that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government is concerned by the current security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and reports of violence during the electoral period. We have repeatedly called on all parties to cease violence and allow the Central African people to exercise their right to vote in peaceful, free and fair conditions. The UN and CAR authorities are working together to ensure a successful second round of legislative elections in February. We have noted the preliminary Presidential election results announced by the National Elections Authority on 4 January, which will be confirmed by the Constitutional Court on 19 January.We support the UN's call for the Government of CAR and all parties to favour an inclusive, open, constructive and credible political dialogue to promote national stability. The UK supported election preparations in CAR through a £500,000 contribution to the UN Development Programme's basket fund for elections, which enabled the procurement of critical election materials and greater participation of women and marginalised groups. The UK also contributes approximately £40 million annually to the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA) which continues to provide security and patrol areas across the country.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment: Young People

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of thereport by ClearView Research Ltd YouthEmployment 2030:Employment and prospects for young people in England post-COVID19, published on 17 December 2020; and what steps they are taking to support unemployed young people who are black, Asian orminorityethnic.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: As part of the Plan for Jobs, the department is providing a range of support for young people, in collaboration with the Department for Education, schools and other partners. This will mean whatever their needs young people can find the right support, education or training that will ultimately lead to sustained employment. We have recognised the substantial risk to the long-term employment and earnings prospects of young people and are taking steps to help minimise the amount of time they spend out of work. Our £30 billion Plan for Jobs has been designed to deliver targeted support to those most in need and continues to adapt to a changing labour market. We have a variety of support options for all our claimants including specific interventions aimed at young people. The package includes Kickstart scheme, New Youth Offer, Expansion of the Work and Health Programme to offer new support to those who lost their job as a result of Covid-19, Flexible Support Fund, Expanding Sector Based Work Academy Programmes and Job Finding Support service. Taken together, the package will ensure that we can get Britain back into work quickly. Every young person, whatever their background or the challenges they face, should have the chance to shape their own futures. We recognise the particular challenges faced by young unemployed people who are black, Asian and minority ethnic. In addition to our national offer, Jobcentre Plus supports employment through place-based solutions that meet the needs of local communities.Youth Hubs will provide vital links in the community helping to reach young people who need this support. Additionally, we have DWP Mentoring Circles, developed for twenty local authorities identified as having a high ethnic minority population and high gap between ethnic minority and white employment rate, following the publication of the first Race Disparity Audit in 2017, working in partnership with Business in the Community. They are delivered by leaders from the companies involved and they work with jobseekers to increase their confidence, motivation and job search skills. The Government is also taking forward activity mitigating the findings of the Public Health England review into disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19 published in June 2020 as well as working with the independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that will make evidence-based recommendations to change lives for the better.

Bereavement Support Payment

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of individuals who are entitled to claim Bereavement Support Payments fail to do so; and how information on these payments and their criteria for eligibility are disseminated to the general public.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) was introduced in April 2017, to replace Widowed Parent’s Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and Bereavement Payments. To date no assessment has been made of what percentage of individuals, who are entitled to claim Bereavement Support Payments, fail to do so. Information is available which aims to ensure people are aware of bereavement support payment and how to claim it. The way such information is made available is under constant review. As well as traditional sources of information (such as leaflets), we have worked with funeral directors, Registrars and voluntary groups to try to ensure people are fully informed of the action to take following the loss of a husband, wife or civil partner. Further information about the benefits to which they are entitled and how to claim them can be found on the government services and information website at www.gov.uk. Following the report of a death to the department’s ‘DWP Bereavement Service’, an eligibility check for BSP will be undertaken, and a claim can be taken over the phone. If a death is reported via the ‘Tell Us Once service’, the customer will receive a notification stating that there may be financial support available from the department. The notification includes the telephone number for DWP Bereavement Service and the gov.uk link.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Wines: Imports

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of requiring VI-1 certificates for wine imported from non-EU countries.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Wine imports to the EU have been subject to the requirement to provide a VI1 certificate for many years. The basis for their introduction was to provide a level of assurance that the wine being imported met the standards required to be marketed in the EU. Over time the VI1 requirement has been relaxed in some cases to allow simplified forms of the certificate to be used, where for instance the exporting country and the EU have reached trade agreements covering the production of wine. The Withdrawal Act 2018 retained the requirement for third country wines to be accompanied by a VI1 certificate as a means of maintaining that level of assurance. As VI1 provisions already exist for wine imports from non-EU countries, and these wines remain extremely competitive in our marketplace, we believe the new requirement to be appropriate and affordable. As I and colleagues in Government have said on many occasions, leaving the EU gives us the ability to look critically at the laws we have inherited from the EU to ensure they remain fit for purpose. We have maintained simplified VI1 arrangements, where these existed, in the new trade deals we have concluded, and we will consider in due course whether there is a case to revisit the requirement for VI1 certification overall.

Home Office

Asylum: Folkestone and Penally

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 27 November 2020 (HL10838), what assessment they have made of protests by asylum seekers at the Napier Barracks on 12 January; and what plans they have to reassess their assessmentthat “the accommodation itself is entirely adequate for its purpose, with the same standards applied as for other asylum accommodation”.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously. We provide asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute with safe, warm and secure accommodation, where they receive three meals a day, whilst their claims are being processed.Those we are accommodating are not detained and are free to come and go. We have a robust complaints process in place where those we support (or those representing them) can raise concerns through the 24/7 helpline operated by Migrant Help.In response to the protests held at Napier, officials arranged a call with some of the residents to listen to their concerns. Reassurances were provided that moves out of the camp will shortly recommence, with vulnerability, time spent in the asylum process and overall length of stay in intial accommodation as a key considerations in this process. Weekly Home Office-led forums with residents will also be held going forward and surveys in relation to food and living standards at the site will be undertaken.The Home Office will continue to review the operation of the site and will make any improvements necessary. We continue to work closely with our provider and partners to identify opportunities for improvement, as we do across our entire accommodation estate.

Police: Recruitment

Lord Howard of Rising: To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have given to police forces in England and Wales on the recruitment of staff to implement diversity and inclusion policies; and whether any such advice included consideration of the value for money requirements of any such recruitment.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Home Office does not advise forces on the recruitment of police staff or how they are best deployed. This is a matter for operationally independent Chief Constables and democratically accountable Police and Crime Commissioners who are best placed to make decisions based on their local knowledge and experience. The College of Policing, as the professional body for policing in England and Wales, provides general guidance to forces on attraction and recruitment. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) published its first Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy in October 2018. This is complemented by a workforce representation toolkit which includes practical actions forces can take to increase the recruitment, retention and progression of officers from under-represented groups in policing. Discussions in the National Policing Board during last year, chaired by the Home Secretary, have focused the minds of police leaders on representation in policing. The NPCC has committed to leading further work in this area, alongside the College of Policing, to increase accountability for diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Immigration

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many non-visa nationals whose permission to be in the UK expired, and for whom there was no record of departure, there were in each of the past five years.

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many visa nationals on (1) six-month visit visas, (2) long-term visit visas, and (3) long-term work, study or family visas, whose permission to be in the UK expired, and for whom there was no record of departure, there were in each of the past five years.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Home Office publishes statistics relating to departures by visa holders as part of its annual Exit Checks report (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fifth-report-on-statistics-relating-to-exit-checks). The report includes the percentage of non-EEA visa holders whose leave expired with no initially identified departure in time, including both people for whom there was no record of departure and people with a confirmed late departure.It is important to note individuals with no departure recorded were not necessarily non-compliant. There are known coverage gaps with the ISA system (most notably the Common Travel Area) which means individuals may have departed and not been recorded. In addition, information regarding a departure may have been received but not successfully matched against their arrival or visa by the system.

Schengen Agreement: ICT

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on cross-border security of the loss of real-time access to the Schengen Information System; and how manyrequests for information from that System have been made by the UK since 31 December 2020.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: In the absence of UK participation in the 2nd generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), although there will be a mutual loss of capability, the Government is clear that cooperation with EU partners through pre-existing bilateral channels is unaffected, and that Interpol provides a tried and tested mechanism for exchanging law enforcement alert information. Interpol was the primary means by which the UK exchanged warnings alerts with EU Member States as recently as 2015. It remains the primary means by which EU Member States share information with partners who do not have access to SIS II. Our assessment is that the UK was a safe country before joining SIS II in 2015 and we will continue to be one of the safest countries in the world.The UK disconnected from the SIS II system at 2300 on the 31st December. There have, therefore, been no searches against SIS II by the UK since the 31st December.

Cabinet Office

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Computer Software

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on their cyber security of the use of third-party digital services and software.

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the hacking of government department emails in the United States in December 2020; and whether they have identified who was responsible for that hacking.

Lord True: Her Majesty's Government is acutely aware of the cyber security risks associated with the use of third-party digital services and software. The contracting authority for the procurement of any such product or service is responsible for assessing and managing that risk.The reported compromise is a complex, global cyber incident, and the Government is working with international partners to understand its scale and assess any UK impact. As the investigation into this incident is ongoing I cannot comment on any operational details.The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance on their website.

Elections: Coronavirus

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) delaying local, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections taking place in May, or (2) making these elections entirely postal.

Lord True: Primary legislation states that the elections will go ahead in May 2021.We continue to work closely with the electoral community and public health bodies to resolve challenges and ensure everyone will be able to cast their vote safely and securely - and in a way of their choosing.Measures are planned to support absent voting at short notice. Guidance will be published in good time ahead of the polls and this matter will be kept under review.Any elector is able to register to vote by post on demand, if they wish. As confirmed in a letter from the Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution, the UK Government is of the view that it would not be appropriate to impose an all-postal vote for the elections in May 2021, as this increases fraud risks and removes choice from voters who wish to cast their vote in person.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Baroness Hoey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, how they define "unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom's internal market."

Baroness Hoey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they define (1) a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and (2) a hard border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Lord True: As set out on gov.uk, and in the Government's December Command Paper, our unfettered access policy will mean that Northern Ireland businesses can continue to move their goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, and place them on the whole UK market, without new barriers being put in place. That is given full effect through our phased approach. In the first phase, which has been operating since 1 January, goods moving directly from Northern Ireland directly to Great Britain will benefit from unfettered access. There will be no new checks or controls on those movements. And even where goods move indirectly via Ireland, there will be no tariffs on those movements. This will be followed up with a second phase over the course of 2021 which will focus the benefits of unfettered access specifically on genuine Northern Ireland businesses. Alongside that, the UK Internal Market Act 2020 ensures that those businesses will continue to place those goods on the GB market.

Treasury

EU Budget: Contributions

Lord Sikka: To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial contributions they made during the transition period of the UK's departure from the EU; and what financial commitments they have made to the EUfor future years.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: As was set out in HM Treasury’s latest EU Finances Statement, the Government’s latest forecast of the total net cost of the financial settlement reached with the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement is £30.2 billion. Of this, £8.1 billion corresponds to payments made before the end of 2020, and £22.1 billion corresponds to payments to be made after that date. The Government has also committed to making a financial contribution to fund its participation in certain EU programmes in the future under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The ultimate cost of this commitment will be determined by factors including the Gross Domestic Product of the UK and EU Member States, and finalised EU budgets for the programmes in question.

Remote Education: Coronavirus

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide financial support toparents unable to work due to the demands of home-schooling childrenwhile schools are closed due to the restrictions in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Agnew of Oulton: The Government has invested over £300 million to support remote education, including providing devices and internet access to pupils who need it most. Since its introduction, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been available to anyone who has been unable to work due to caring responsibilities arising from COVID-19, such as caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing, or caring for a vulnerable individual in their household. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is also available to parents and carers who cannot work because of childcare commitments. In order to support businesses to retain their employees and protect the UK economy, the Chancellor has extended both the CJRS and SEISS until the end of April. Individual families have also benefitted from increased welfare payments, enhanced statutory sick pay, a stay of repossession proceedings and mortgage holidays. The government has provided over £400m for 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. Over 750,000 of these have already been delivered to schools.